by Jen L. Grey
Chapter Seven
When we pulled into a parking spot at the Mexican restaurant, my breathing quickened. This had to be a bad idea. Anything that made me this anxious couldn’t be a good thing.
“Are you okay?”
My body startled as though I’d forgotten I was in her car. My eyes jerked over, and adrenaline pumped through my blood.
Her forehead lined with worry, and she tilted her head. “I just scared the shit out of you. Do you need to go home and change?”
I hated that I was that transparent. “Be glad that I don’t. It could have easily gone the other way.”
“You are so refreshing.” She snorted. “So much better than all the other losers that tend to hang around us.” She motioned for me to come with her. “Let’s eat so we don’t miss the fight.”
“Yeah, all right.” I rolled the window up and took a deep breath. I had to force myself to climb out.
“I have a feeling you’ll like it here.” She ran her fingers through her hair as if it was out of sorts. It contrasted against her midriff black shirt and tight blue jeans.
She opened the door and waved me through. “Since you’re my date, I better treat you nice.”
“If you want me to put out, you’d better behave.” She brought out a playfulness I thought I’d never find.
“Ha. You can’t resist me.” She sashayed up to the hostess. “Table for two.”
“Okay.” The woman bent down to grab some menus and gestured for us to follow her.
Honestly, I hadn’t been out to a restaurant since God knows when. It was packed, and most of the people appeared to be college students like us.
As I passed a table of guys, one of them stood up and stepped in my way. “Hey, gorgeous.” His eyes seemed to be undressing me right here in the middle of the restaurant.
I ignored him and moved to walk around him.
“Hey.” He grabbed my arm, yanking me toward him. “I was talking to you.”
“And I don’t want to talk to you, so why don’t you back off.” This was why I stayed home. I didn’t have to deal with idiots.
His buddies laughed.
“That’s kind of cold.” The stench of beer almost gagged me.
“Hey, baby.” Connor’s voice echoed in my ear. “Sorry I’m late.”
I turned around to see him heading in the direction we’d just come from, sauntering straight to me. “Uh… hey.”
He placed his hand on the guy’s chest and pushed him into the seat. “Better luck next time. This one is mine.” He took my hand in his and tugged me in the direction Ella had been heading.
The desire to jerk my hand out of his overwhelmed me. I didn’t like being touched by anyone. As soon as we were out of their sights, I removed my hand. “What the hell was that?” My voice was a loud whisper.
“Usually, this is where you’d thank me.” Connor smirked and shook his head. “But you’re not like other girls.”
“Look, I hate to do this to you and all, but she’s my date tonight.” Ella appeared beside me and arched an eyebrow. “So back the fuck off.”
“Whoa.” he lifted both hands in the air. “I’m not trying to interfere. You two go have your girl talk. I was just trying to help. The girl I’m with is waiting in the lobby.”
“Are you serious?” I couldn’t believe what he just said.
“What? Am I supposed to wait and pine for you or something?” The corners of his mouth twitched upward.
“Is that what you think this is about?” First off, I could’ve handled that asshole though Connor probably helped prevent me from making a scene, but still… “I can’t believe you left her and acted like you were with me. Did she see you do that?”
“No, I told her I had to go to the bathroom.” Any signs of a grin vanished.
“You are an ass.” Ella laughed. “Go make up with the girl you brought and stop drooling over the one you want. It makes some of us uncomfortable.” She glanced at the ceiling and tilted her head. “Actually, no. It brings me amusement in my life.”
“Uh… Connor?” A girl with long black hair walked toward us. She wore a tank top with a low neckline, and she crossed her arms right under her breasts. “What’s going on here?”
Thank God. This was going to be our saving grace. “He was just telling us he needed to get back to you.” I forced a smile that I hoped wasn’t as awkward as it felt. “He saved me from some drunken asshole.”
“Oh.” Her shoulders relaxed, and she dropped her hands by her sides. “That was nice of him. Are you guys friends or something?”
“Uh…” His mouth dropped open, and his eyes glanced everywhere.
“Kinda.” The idiot thought I was going to tell her we slept together. That had to be what it was. Otherwise, he was acting more awkward than I was, and that was saying something.
“We all three have a class together.” Ella stepped forward and held her hand out. “I’m Ella, and this here is Elena.” She turned back to Connor. “Thanks so much. We don’t want to keep you away from your date any longer.” She grabbed my arm and nodded toward a table for two. “We’re here.”
Not saying anything else to him, I turned and took my place at the table. There were already chips and salsa waiting for us. “I’m starving.”
“Girl, me too.” She sat on the other side and chuckled. “He’s got it bad for you.”
“Worst mistake of my life.” I grabbed a tortilla chip and dipped it in the chunky salsa. “And we had absolutely no chemistry, so it makes it that much worse.”
“He obviously disagrees.” She rolled her eyes and took a sip of water. “If you’d asked him to sit with us, he would’ve dropped her like a bad habit.”
“Well, good thing I didn’t offer then.” If I could’ve gone back in time to change the decision I made the night of the party, I would have. It wasn’t long until we ordered and the waitress brought our food.
The entire way to the fight, I was torn between anxiety and intrigue. I’d always enjoyed a good fight, but I had never seen one unless it had been on television. Before I knew it, we’d arrived.
It was a standalone building off a back road. The parking lot was huge in the back and couldn’t be seen from the road. Almost every spot was taken, but Ella made herself a spot near the front, blocking in two cars.
“Don’t you think you should move?” Someone might try to leave before we got out of there.
“God no. We’ll probably leave before everyone else does.” She shrugged and locked her door. “Come on, let’s go get a seat.”
I couldn’t believe that the parking lot was so full. We headed toward the back, and I turned around to glance at everything one more time. “It’s dark back here.”
“Because they don’t want the cops to see.” She pushed the door open and walked in with little regard to all the bodies that were in our way. “Once we get closer to the ring, you’ll be able to see better.”
Apparently, I’d thrown my whole life plan to stay off the radar into the wind tonight. “It looks like there is a line.”
“Girl, no.” She took my hand and kept weaving through the bodies that were piled inside. “They’re making bets on who’ll win.”
Finally, we entered a huge room that had a ring in the center of the floor. People were lined up, and there weren't any chairs in sight.
“Come on.” She took my hand so we didn’t get parted in the crowd.
I wasn’t quite sure how she did it, but we wound up in the front, and the two guys were already going at it.
One was a tall, thick guy with a scar down his cheek, who was dancing around the hottest guy I’d ever seen.
My eyes landed on Mason as he grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Each movement showed the definition in his hard, muscular body as his shirt was pulled over his short, dark hair. He tossed the material on the ground, and his huge-ass paw print became clear on his upper arm.
Done wasting Mason’s time, the scarred guy attacked running full-force at him
in the center.
“Kick his ass, Mason,” Ella yelled next to me.
My eyes immediately went back to the fight as Mason lowered his body so that the other guy would land on his back. Once the guy was positioned the way Mason wanted him, he stood fast, throwing the guy off his back and onto the ground.
“Ow.” The guy groaned as he slowly climbed to his feet. Before he was solid on the ground, Mason reared his arm back and punched the guy square in the nose.
Blood splattered as the guy stumbled in our direction. When he was only a few feet away from us, he hit the ground.
The crowd went wild. The screams and chants were so loud my ears rang.
“Hey, are you okay?” Ella’s concerned eyes fell on me.
“Yeah.” I didn’t need to make a scene.
“If you wanna be concerned about anyone, I wouldn’t mind the attention.” A guy threw his arm around Ella, and he lowered his face to hers. “You’re hot.”
“Uh… Thanks.” She removed his arm from her shoulders and nodded. “But you’re drunk, and we know we don’t make the best decisions like that. You might wake up in the morning to find out I’m actually toothless and fat.”
“Are you making fun of me?” The guy stood straight and glared at her.
This wasn’t good. No one was paying attention because they were on a high from the fight Mason had won.
“See, this is what I’m talking about.” Ella took a step toward me, trying to gain distance.
While her head was turned, the guy snarled and raised his hand, aiming it directly at her head.
Oh, hell no. Before I thought twice, I lunged and caught his punch midair. I pushed him backward and kneed him in the crotch as he fell back.
He fell to the ground with a large thud.
That’s when I realized that the small crowd around us had their eyes on me.
“Hell, yeah.” A guy broke out into a grin and stared me up and down.
I turned, ready to take him on too.
“Oh, no.” He lifted both hands in the air. “I was just admiring your work.”
“Was he about to fucking hit me?” Ella's eyes stayed on the grounded prick.
“What the hell is going on here?” A dark, raspy voice called from behind me.
Butterflies took flight in my stupid-ass stomach. They should know better than to do that.
“Now you come here.” Ella stood and placed her arm around my shoulders. “After Elena took care of the problem. Figures.”
“First off, you were supposed to come here with Alec, not her.” His emerald eyes landed on mine, and he took a quick intake of air. “What the hell is your name again?”
My damn heart took off, and I could smell the wolf on him so thick. His strong musky scent told me more about him than I should know. He was an alpha, and he expected me to cower in his presence. “None of your concern.” I lifted my chin, making sure he knew he had no control over me.
“I don’t think you realize how this works.” His nostrils flared as his nose wrinkled. “Newbies don’t get to run the game.”
“Well, first off, I’m not interested in this… game.” I wasn’t sure what he meant by that. “And secondly, I only came this one time for your sister. It has nothing to do with you. In fact, if I knew we were going to talk, I would’ve kept my ass home.” Really, I would’ve. I didn’t know what the hell was going on with me. My wolf was clawing to get out, and I’d never felt this way toward a guy before, much less a wolf. I wondered… is it possible he’s my mate? In my position, I couldn’t take that chance. This was too dangerous. I needed distance and fast, especially before his wolf figured any of it out.
“Damn, she’s feisty.” Alec grinned at me. “I knew I’d like you when we met earlier today.”
“You should be thanking her.” Ella nudged Mason’s chest with her finger. “She saved me from the asshole who was trying to hit me.” Her nose wrinkled, and she rubbed her pointer finger against her thumb. “Yuck. Go wipe off your sweat and put on a shirt.”
“That’s a good idea.” The words were out before I could stop them. “Because you smell horrible.” Yeah, good save.
Ella’s eyes lit, and a damn huge smile spread across her face. “How often does a girl tell you that other than me?”
“Are you being serious right now?” Mason’s jaw clenched, and his nose wrinkled in disgust. “You almost get hit by some asshole and you’re more concerned about her wanting me to put a shirt on?”
“Someone needs to take you down a notch.” He shouldn’t have been talking to her that way. “And she’s not upset because I handled it, unlike someone else here.” I was being crueler out of fear of what was going on inside me. My wolf, even though suppressed, wanted to be part of a pack and stand by her mate. How badly I wanted it scared me.
“Alec, take the girls home.” He nodded his head in my direction, but his eyes stayed focused on the jackass I took down. “I’ll take your car and meet you at the house later.”
“Yeah, all right.” He waved us forward toward the back door. “Let’s get going.”
The last thing that I wanted was to be told what to do, but I bit back my complaint. Right now, I needed distance and fast. The longer I stayed here, the harder my wolf was forcing our connection. I had to keep it separate for Kassie’s, Mona’s, and my protection.
“Hey, Elena,” Ella called out as I pushed myself through the crowd.
This had been a very bad decision. I shouldn’t have been here, never should’ve walked through those doors. My parents had told me about mates. If you were lucky enough to have one, destiny had a way of making sure you meet. At the time, I wanted exactly what Mom and Dad had, but since I lost them, I vowed to do everything I could to stay away in case something like this happened. But here I was, desperate to leave, but a part of my heart had already been fractured and left behind.
Chapter Eight
That Wednesday morning, I almost decided not to go to class. The last thing I wanted was to see Ella after that night, but the longer I put it off, the worse it’d be.
“Hey, are you okay?” Mona turned toward me as I entered the kitchen. “You were moping all day yesterday.”
“Yeah.” I hadn’t told them what happened the other night and planned to keep it that way. They’d lecture me on needing friends and at least being a normal ‘human’.
“Well, did you at least have fun?” Her chocolate brown eyes took me in.
“That’s part of the problem.” I had. But part of being friends was telling your past and your future. Neither one of those were things I needed to share for multiple reasons. One, if I shared my past, people may figure things out; and two, if they figured it out, they could be captured and tortured at some point.
“It’s okay to let others in.” Mona took a bite of her standard cinnamon raisin bagel and sighed.
“No, they are weaknesses that could be exploited.” I wasn’t willing to chance risking Mona and Kassie. They were my family now, and I’d be damned if I let anything happen to them. “Besides,” I walked over to her and tapped her on the nose. “I’ve got you and Kassie, I don’t need anything else.”
She shook her head at me. “You need friends your own age.”
“You’ve been telling me that for a long time.” I made my way to the cabinet and grabbed the peanut butter. “I figured you’d give up by now.”
“No.” She chewed for a moment and swallowed. “It’s just I’m hoping you give it a shot. The worst thing that happens is we pick up and move somewhere else.”
That was what we did the first couple of years after the wreck. We constantly moved to ensure that no one figured out I was alive. Finally, we settled down here, and I homeschooled through twelfth grade. I had hoped to do online college classes, but Kassie and Mona refused. They said if they were paying for my education, then college was a must.
I grabbed a banana and peeled it. “Look, I’m going to college onsite. I’m holding up my end of the bargain. You should’ve m
ade friends a requirement too.”
“Maybe we’ll consider that for next year.” Mona winked at me.
“Hussy.” I stuck my tongue out at her as I spooned peanut butter all over my banana.
“I’ve been called worse.” She chuckled as she took another large bite of her breakfast.
“All right, I’m out.” I grabbed my bag and purse from the coat hanger by the door. “I’ll be home later.”
“Have a good day.” She hollered before the door shut behind me.
As I made my way to the car, I scarfed my breakfast down. I had spent too much time considering whether to show up today or not, so I was running on the minute, which I hated.
My hands were sweaty, which was completely ridiculous. I mean it wasn’t like Ella and I were dating or something. When I reached the doorway of the classroom, I took a deep breath and stepped in.
Of course, she was already there, sitting in her normal seat. When she saw me, she waved. “Hey, girl.”
At least she was acting normal. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect after how Mason blew up. The thought that he might forbid her from being my friend had hurt me worse than I cared to admit.
“I had so much fun the other night.” Ella turned her body toward me. “Thank you again for protecting me.”
“It was nothing.” Even though she and her brother didn’t look anything alike, my mind couldn’t help but think of him. “He was an ass.”
“Oh, yeah. Mason told me that he mopped the floor with him a little more after you left.” She snorted. “He came home upset because you did most of the ass-kicking.”
“He did plenty of it in the…” Oh crap, I probably shouldn’t be saying that here. “Gym.”
“You’re so cute.” She shook her head and pulled out her phone. “So, there is another one Saturday night…”
“No.” I had to cut her off. “That was a one-time thing.”
“Look, my brother was being an ass. I know.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “For some reason, most girls like that. But you’re different. There aren’t any ulterior motives.”